ANGST is building over Cricket Australia's rotation policy, after fast bowler Mitchell Johnson suggested Tests should be exempt from the controversial practice and Mitchell Starc became unhappy about being rested, but national selector John Inverarity doesn't understand the fuss.

Starc will be rested from the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and it is believed the 22-year-old is upset about being robbed of the momentum he built from bowling Australia to victory with five wickets in the first Test in Hobart. He has played just two Tests in a row but has entered the so-called ''danger zone'' for injury.

Inverarity said the spate of injuries to fast bowlers had persuaded CA to take a more conservative approach.

Mitchell Starc ... unhappy at being rested. Photo: Anthony Johnson

''With all the injuries, we don't want to go a high-risk strategy. With Mitchell Johnson coming back, I certainly felt and the general opinion has been that he was our best bowler in Perth. He's very strong and durable at the moment, and [prospective debutant] Jackson Bird is a very good bowler, who has done especially well at the MCG, so we have other good options,'' he said.

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Inverarity claimed rotation was not new to the athletic Starc, who had never played consecutive Tests before this summer. But nor had he been rested while in top form.

''He is 22 years of age and [after] bowling as much as he has, he will not be able to do both, so he will miss one,'' Inverarity said. Starc's omission will hand Bird a Boxing Day debut.

''I don't know why it takes people so long to get their head around it. It's an integral part of AFL football, [Carlton AFL star] Chris Judd plays 78 or 82 per cent of the game. He blitzes it for seven or eight minutes

then he comes off for three minutes. I don't see the difference. The top teams in the English Premier League soccer … the best players play most of the games but not all of the games. Overall, you maximise your effectiveness.

''I don't understand why people get hung up on it, I don't. All the players understand it. It's a very different process now because of the year-round cricket. It used to be there was a genuine off-season, so you could do some serious conditioning work. It's very difficult, say, if you're in the IPL, to do conditioning work because you play one day, travel the next … It's just got to be.''

However, Johnson expressed serious reservations.

''There's obviously a process with it but, personally, I wouldn't want to miss a Test match. I think Test matches are the pinnacle of cricket,'' said Johnson, who was dropped after making a successful Test comeback against South Africa in Perth. ''But obviously, that process is in place with support staff and working with the player, as long as you're being honest with them and you're putting trust in them as well. But I would be putting my hand up to play. I'm happy to play three Test matches in a row, if I feel fit.''

Johnson said he understood the reasons for his omission for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart, which allowed him to spend time with his newborn daughter, Rubika. He declared himself ready to make an impact in the Boxing Day Test.

As a more mature bowler than when he suffered a serious foot injury in November last year, he backed himself to strike the right balance between aggression and consistency, and handle the pressure better than he once did.

''I've been around long enough now to understand it all. All the outside influences mean nothing in the end. The main thing is, I back myself and that's what matters,'' Johnson said.

''I've still got to have that aggressive streak as a fast bowler, I think that intimidation does work for me. It's just using it [the bouncer] at the right time. I thought I used it pretty well in Perth.

''I think using that bouncer at the right time has really worked for me - and getting a bit of swing as well.''